Leslie Cummins and Tim Seabrook are MOFGA certified organic farm vendors at the Stonington Farmers Market. Their peaches from 5 Star Nursery & Orchard in Brooklin, Maine are legendary as is their apple cider and cider vinegar. We wanted to find out why their cider and vinegar was so special. Here’s what we found out:

To make our high quality fresh unpasteurized cideer we ue organic varieties of apples to bring a balance of characteristics–a combination of sweetness, tartness, aroma, and astringency to give us that complex deep rich flavor we love.

Our cider is made from September until December; early cider is lighter and more thirst quenching. When cider is pressed late in the autumn from the various winter apples that we blend, the cider will have a brilliant alive flavor. We especially use russets (Golden Russet, Roxbury Russet, Russet Pearman, Winter Gravenstein, Starkey; plus the yellow-fleshed Baldwin, Black Oxford, King David, and Tompkins King, etc). If the apples have been stored to proper ripeness not only will it be gorgeous but the cider will excel in the nutrients that apples have naturally. Heat processed cider has significantly lower levels of vitamins.

It is the late winter keeping apples mixed with the wild Maine apples and crabs that are needed to make the alcoholic hard cider. This is the classic method: first ferment the cider into hard cider which then makes vinegar. Pectins, beta-carotene, potassium, flavinoids, Vitamin C, iron, boron, magnesium, and calcium are enhanced when the acidity, tannins, and sugars are balanced then fermented for 6 months into hard cider.

Our process involves filling 5 gallon glass car boys with cider, air-locking them, decanting after a few months of intense fermentation, doing a second fermentation until complete stillness arrives then decant again into open but cloth covered vats. At this point hard cider is further cultured by adding protein nutrient-rich “mother of vinegar” for another half year to make cider vinegar. The result is full of vitamins, pectins and other solids, good for a cleansing diet especially benefiting the liver and gallbladder.

Today the American diet is high in proteins but low in alkalizing fruits and vegetables which leaves acid residue in the body. The PH imbalance in our blood can lead to numerous illnesses like arthritis, bone loss, colds. Apple cider vinegar has been known as a folk remedy from as far back as the ancient Egyptians.

For more information and to order some 5 Star Nursery & Orchard apple cider and apple cider vinegar, email Leslie and Tim at Leslie Cummins <5starnursery@gmail.com> or call 207.359.2282